Tigers hold off Eagles' rally for senior night victory

Feb. 16—ALEXANDRIA — It was senior night in the Jungle, and while the seniors set a deafening tone early, it was the youngsters who sealed the deal for an Alexandria victory.

Carson Cuneo scored 12 of his team-best 14 points in the first quarter as the Tigers roared to an early 15-point lead and held off a second-half Frankton rally for a 67-57 win, claiming the Central Indiana Conference traveling horseshoe and denying the Eagles an undefeated outright conference title.

Alexandria (12-9) has won four in a row and five of its last six and finished 4-3 in the conference. Frankton dropped to 14-8 and will share the CIC title at 6-1 with Mississinewa.

In addition to being a senior night win for Cuneo, it was the first basketball win over Frankton in his career.

"We just kept driving to the basket, and they couldn't stop us," he said. "It's senior night, and they had the traveling trophy, so we wanted that, and I don't think I've ever beaten Frankton."

The two Tigers seniors — Cuneo and Gabe McGuire — stormed out from the opening tip and knocked Frankton on its heels.

Cuneo scored on a pair of drives and was fouled on both — converting one free throw — to open the game before McGuire scored for an early 9-2 lead. Two McGuire free throws made it 20-7 — with all 20 points coming from the seniors — before sophomore Mason Fuller converted a steal into an open layup and a 22-7 lead after one quarter.

"They came out fired up the way they should, and they got up on us early," Frankton coach Brent Brobston said. "It just dug us a hole, and we're not good enough to come out of a hole like that."

The Tigers took their biggest lead at 29-12 in the second quarter on a Fuller drive. He finished with 12 points and led Alex with four assists.

"I was impressed with their poise being that young," Cuneo said. "They really stepped up."

Frankton grabbed some momentum late in the second quarter as Ja'Von Miller scored to make it a 31-22 lead, but freshman Jackson Birkenbine hit a baseline jumper to send the game to intermission with the Tigers back on top by double figures.

Frankton senior Nate Moore nearly single-handedly brought the Eagles all the way back.

He poured in 24 points to lead all players, including a 3-point basket to pull the Eagles within two points at 57-55.

But freshman Conner Kettery hit a 3-pointer, Carson Hall scored on a rebound basket to push the lead back to five points and Cuneo, just before fouling out, collected a steal that sealed the game.

Brady Carmack had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Joey Wright had nine points for the Eagles while Hall scored 11 points — all in the second half — and Bryson Eckler added nine points for the Tigers.

Alexandria will play its final home game of the season Tuesday against Daleville, and both teams close out the regular season Feb. 23 — the Tigers at Taylor and the Eagles at home against Blue River Valley.

"Coming down the stretch, we had Madison-Grant — which we hadn't won up there in a while — Frankton, Daleville and Taylor," Alex coach Marty Carroll said. "That's four good games, four good teams, and we can beat all four teams, I really believe that. But I told the kids we could also lose all four."

Sectional play begins Feb. 27, and the draw to determine sectional pairings will be held by the IHSAA on Sunday evening.

In the junior varsity game, Frankton pulled away late for a 50-41 win over Alexandria. Trey Bennett led all players with 16 points, and Grayer Cline added 15 points — including a pair of big 3-point shots in the final moments — for the Eagles while Bryson Eckler led the Tigers with 13 points and Jon Aiman added 11.

Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.